I read an article on Washington DC’s CBS affiliate’s website discussing how some “sugar daddy” websites have seen an influx of signups since the government shutdown. I am sure there are domain investors with affiliate accounts that are benefiting, and I am wondering if the government shutdown may drive some aftermarket domain sales.
I would think that a job loss would cause people to have less expendable income and perhaps hurt the domain aftermarket. However, the government shutdown is not a typical situation where people lost jobs. It’s actually a situation where government employees are not permitted to work. They aren’t being paid for the time being, so money may be tight, but chances are good that they have money saved.
These government employees probably assume they will be paid when (not if) the government reopens, and perhaps some will realize that now is the time to start that business online that they had been putting off. If the business fails, they’ve lost their investment. If the business succeeds, they could leave their jobs down the road.
Knowing that they have a paycheck coming at some point in the future, I bet some of these embargoed employees will take steps to create a new business during this shutdown. I suspect that some of these hundreds of thousands of people will purchase their ideal domain name in the aftermarket. I wouldn’t be surprised to see an uptick in private domain sales as well as new domain name registrations.
While some people may be content signing up for an account on a sugar daddy website hoping that someone else will foot their bills for them, I bet others are going to look at this shutdown as an opportunity to start a new business. Maybe that will lead to an uptick in aftermarket sales.
From what I saw in 2008 and 2009 this topic is interesting. Not only do I think domain names might be recession proof, but could possibly have a slight uptick during down markets. As you suggest, more people out of work is more people looking to start something up on their own. Yes, they have less expendable income, but more time to put into their true passion. It’s an interesting topic for sure.
IMO, these federal employees are thinking about more better things than online businesses. It is too risky for them.
For many that is most certainly true. I would think there are some who might use this opportunity to start something on the side with the hope that it turns into something bigger.
Unlike unemployment though, these workers know they will have their jobs back when this whole thing settles.